Indoor Environmental Quality

Photo: The ICUBE "living laboratory," the center of indoor environmental quality research at Syracuse University's Link+ facility.

Overall Mission:

Conditions inside buildings are associated with human health and performance, energy cost and availability, and ecosystem sustainability. SyracuseCoE Members have been internationally recognized for advancements in education, funding, resources, research, demonstration, and commercialization activities in IEQ, as well as unique test facilities and an extensive portfolio of projects at firms and academic institutions.

Scope:

The scope of SyracuseCoE's IEQ projects include temperature and humidity; air movement; air quality; light; acoustics; sensory connections to nature including visual, auditory, and air movement; and protection from exposure to health and safety risks.

Strategic IEQ technology/service areas include low-cost, low energy consuming sensors for real-time monitoring of IEQ parameters; new fan designs and assemblies that result in improved energy efficiency and lower sound levels; filtration systems with low cost, low pressure drop, and high efficiency removal capabilities for IEQ contaminants; demonstration of improved IEQ achieved through the reduction or elimination of harmful emissions from new materials that can be used for building finishes and furnishings; and understand the impact of changes in IEQ on human health and performance, specifically deepening the current understanding of asthma and human productivity.

Example Test Beds:

The SU Link+ addition: ICUBE Lab, with capabilities for personalized IEQ control; the Carrier Total Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory at SyracuseCoE HQ, a controlled environment that can be used for human subject testing; infrastructure for personal IEQ control at King + King Architect's HQ; and Lincoln Supply and individual homes in the Syracuse's Near Westside neighborhood.

Projects:

Current SyracuseCoE-funded projects include computation of particle transport, interaction between building envelopes and indoor and outdoor air, local ventilation systems, and modeling mold formation. Specific work at the SyracuseCoE headquarters includes studies at the Carrier Total Indoor Environmental Quality Laboratory and data collected by the Urban Ecosystem Observatory tower.

• To learn more about SyracuseCoE-funded IEQ research projects, click here.
• To learn more about SyracuseCoE-funded IEQ demonstration projects, click here.
• To learn more about SyracuseCoE-funded IEQ commercialization projects, click here.
• To learn more about other IEQ projects conducted by SyracuseCoE Partners, click here.